Gabrielle Union: Zoë Saldana's Doing 'Great' After Split with Bradley Cooper

By Arnesa A. Howell

01/15/2013 at 11:10 AM EST

Girls just wanna have fun!

Zoë Saldana's pal Gabrielle Union says the newly single actress is doing "great" after her recent split from Bradley Cooper.

"She's awesome," Union, 40, told PEOPLE on the red carpet before hosting the 2013 BET Honors – airing Feb. 11 at 9 p.m – at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.

Union – who rang in the New Year with the Words actress in Miami – calls Saldana, 34, "dope" and says the duo has a blast whenever they're together.



"Our girl time is usually spent singing, drinking and dancing, and that's exactly what we did [on New Year's Eve]," said Union, who affectionately calls Saldana "Cha-Cha."

But while Saldana is back on the market, Union seems ready to take her relationship with Miami Heat basketball player Dwayne Wade to the next level – though she did joke during the show's opening monologue that he'd yet to put a ring on it.

"I cannot do a thing about Charles Barkley talking bad about you. He is just jealous that you have two rings and he and I have none," she said onstage after answering her cellphone, which rang to the tune of Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)."